Climber of Mt. Everest to speak to Estes Park students and community

By By Juley Harvey

Trail-Gazette

Posted:
01/18/2013 09:07:10 AM MST

Dr. Jon Kedrowski victorious on Everest.

Dr. Jon Kedrowski at the Capitol Knifeedge. (Courtesy photo)

What do you do when you've climbed the tallest mountain on the face of the planet (Mt. Everest) and lived through storms and dead people to tell about it? You come to Estes Park and inspire students at the Park R-3 school district. That is what Dr. Jon Kedrowski, Colorado adventurer, best-selling author, mountaineer, Mt. Everest conqueror, environmentalist, athlete and motivational speaker, will do Feb. 7, when he climbs the stage at Estes Park High School and encourages students and community members to climb every mountain.

EPHS choir director Dr. Alan Denney invited Kedrowski to the school, and the speaker will be sharing his message, selling his book and returning part of the proceeds of the event to the school. Kedrowski climbed Mt. Everest last summer, capping his career of climbing all 55 14ers in Colorado. He has future plans of climbing high, as well.

Denney said, "He will be sharing a positive message with our students on Feb. 7 during the day AND then we will be hosting him in a ticketed event open to the public that evening."

In an interview with the Trail-Gazette, Kedrowski said he first knew he wanted to climb Mt. Everest at the age of 9 or 10. He knew for sure he would climb his mountain in 2008, when he went to the Himalayas for the first time. Being Colorado-bred, he had trained here, but asked himself where are the tallest mountains in the world. On the border between China and Nepal, Mt. Everest elevates a stunning 29,029 feet, and that's where he migrated. It was a matter of logistics and planning. Putting together an expedition requires some thought.

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Kedrowski has a Ph.D. in mountain geography (comes in handy), and has worked in Mt. Rainier and Mt. McKinley national parks. In 2008, he met Dan Mazur, one of the most succesful Himalayan mountaineeers.

"That was how the Everest idea got started," he said, "networking."

Kedrowski attended a conference in Katmandu in 2008, doing research on how to mitigate the problems of human waste created by the many climbers of the fabled mountain. In 2010 and 2011, he consulted with the American Alpine Club in Seattle, discussing grants and also putting together some funds from the National Geographic Society, along with his own money, to mount the expedition. In between climbing efforts in the Himalayas, he was also writing blogs, journals and collecting water and air quality samples on Everest.

There is a village below the base camp at Mt. Everest, he said, where human waste is deposited in pits. He tested the pits for leakage. A biogas group is involved in reconstructing the pits, using solar and other technology to mitigate the waste problem and to compost it.

One-hundred-thousand trekkers a year can build up some waste, as well as bringing in about $100 million in tourism, Kedrowski observed. He helped to determine how bad the e-coli forms were — in some places, they are 25 times the legal limits of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. In other places, however, glaciers form a protective barrier of rock and debris and filter the water.

"It was cool. I got to test the water high up. In April and May, it warms up. In the second camp at 23,000 feet it doesn't freeze and it's pretty polluted. But downstream the water is clear. Right near the source is bad, but further downstream it's fine," he said.

He left home for the Himalayas in early April of last year and returned from his trek on June 11. At the event Feb. 7, he will take the audience through the adventure, from startr to finish, and answer questions. It's not just our everyday story of climbing Mt. Everest, either.

He said what happened to him was similar to what happened in the other disaster on Everest, in 1996. He has the distinction of being involved in the second deadliest storm in the mammoth mountain's history, May 20, 2012, when seven climbers died. He was within 800 feet of the summit — what must that have felt like? — when they were forced to turn back by the ferocity of the storm. Although people died, he considers this an ultimate success story, as he reached the top of Mt. Everest a week later, with half his team of eight.

The hardest thing, he said, was getting to know your teammates, only to have them quit, after being battered by the storm, and hoping the weather would turn good enough again to continue. He credits the time he spent camping on Colorado's 14ers in preparation as being essential to his success. Camping out on the 14ers five to six nights in a row is some of "what it takes for Everest," he said.

The climber was surprised by the "Disneyland" aspect of the mountain, although he'd read about the hordes who crowd to climb there, but "nothing prepares you for that," he said.

During his ventures, there were at least seven other teams that tried the trek, as well. It's a social and technical challenge. It's expected, for instance, that climbers from the Western world need Sherpa help, he said.

"I'd always been a leader," Kedrowski said. "We do the work ourselves."

Four of their team made the summit. That felt "great."

"Like wow, this is it," he said. "The highest point on the earth. It was fairly satisfactory."

The satisfaction came from knowing he'd tried hard enough and weathered the storms, he said. And yes, he has other goals — and encourgaes others to always have goals and mountains to climb. You need to find a vehicle to be your success, no matter what you do. Since he is Colorado-born, he set his sights on the mountains here, because you "have to start somewhere." Next, he suggests doing any activity to allow yourself to separate from the pack. Find your personal path and shine, he said.

It's important when you achieve some goal, that you have a sequel. How do you top Everest? Kedrowski will be climbing the 11th and 13th highest mountains, in Pakistan next.

"I encourage kids — Yeah, it's tough, but hey, there's still more to be done," he said.

How does his family feel about his strivings?

"My mom is like, 'This is what he does.' I have so many projects going on. I consult with FOX news and Channel 2 in Denver. I do a radio show. I own four basketball camps," he said.

Yeah, but does he ever get scared? Not so much, but...

"When the weather started getting bad on the first attempt on Everest," he said, "I knew it was a serious situation. I told myself don't let yourself stay too long. (The dead climbers) were exposed for too long. There is a risk factor and a mentality in climbing. I know what is safe. I trained here in Colorado. I understand you have limits. I appreciate that every single day. There are many times I've gone somewhere and turned around."

What other peaks will pique his interest?

There are a lot of 13ers in Colorado on which he would like to try new routes — the San Juans, the Rio Grande Pyramid. He has climbed Mt. Rainier 15 times, and has climbed Mt. Hood, and mountains in the Grand Tetons, in Nevada and Wind Rivers.

Although many people perish climbing Mt. Everest, he said there is a ridge on Mt. Rainier that is actually technically more dangerous than Everest, and Everest is not as difficult as some of the other climbs.

Kedrowski hopes the community will come out to support theyouth and hear his message about overcoming odds on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at Estes Park High School auditorium, 1600 Manford Ave., Estes Park. Tickets are $10 per person. Call 970-586-5321 for more information, and see Kedrowski's website at jonkeverest.org.

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